Locating the microbes along the maize root system under nitrogen limitation: a root phenotypic approach.

ABSTRACT:

Background

A major challenge in agriculture is the low nitrogen (N) uptake efficiency of crops, which poses environmental and economic costs. Root adaptive architectural and anatomical phenotypes in synergy with root microbes could be a promising approach to improve plant N uptake. However, little is known about such synergies. Here, we aimed to characterize the spatial distribution of the root prokaryotes of maize (Zea mays) under low N in 30-L mesocosms, where root architecture and anatomy are freely expressed, searching for correlations between prokaryotic genus abundance and ten phenotypes.

Methods

We studied the root prokaryotic community of 4-week-old plants growing in 30-L mesocosms under low N using two sandy soil mixtures. We collected root, rhizosphere and bulk soi

SUBMITTER: Galindo-Castaneda T 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC12682841 | biostudies-literature | 2025 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature